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Most of America is learning about Turin this week as the Winter Olympics continue in the northern Italian city, but a local teacher has spent most of her life collecting stories and information about Turin.

Lisa Mortara has turned her interest in Turin and the tales collected from her many visits there into a book, "A City for all Seasons: Tales of Turin: Wine, Castles and Adventure" (Jack Bacon & Co., $14.50 soft cover).

"I've been going to Europe and Italy most of my life," she said. "I have cousins in Turin and northwest Italy and have been going there since I was a teenager. I've been collecting so many experiences. With the Olympics, I thought I should strike while the iron was hot."

"A City for all Seasons" delves into the hidden corners of Turin and the well-trod tourist centers such as churches, markets, castles and attractions. Mortara tastes the wines, visits the restaurants and describes side trips to surrounding areas. Interspersed with the travelogue are stories that recount Turin's past from its interactions with Ancient Rome to post-World War II development.

"I tried to put short stories into different parts of the book," she said. "So many people do not know about Turin. They need to know the basics of food and wine, but I put in other stories too."

In addition to the stories that contain some history of the area, such one about the temperamental but beautiful Countess of Castiglione and another about abduction of a village doctor's daughter by partisans during World War II, Mortara uses little story-telling devices to take readers on tours -- a walking tour of local castles, a ride through the seasons from the frigid Alps to the mild Mediterranean Sea, a winter day trip through Turin's skiing and ice skating adventures.

A young couple in an Alfa Romeo -- the "Wine boy" and an adventuresome young woman friend -- headline several stories that take them on quick trips around the region.

"I'm a teacher, I have taught history. It was natural for me to want to write about it," Mortara said. "The culture -- it rivals Tuscany and Provence. Those cities are world-famous, but the Piedmont (district) and

Turin rival them in many ways."

Mortara, 51, also touches briefly on the region's occult community, underground passages and other mystery and magic.

A Reno native, Mortara has family living in the Turin area and visits each summer. She's seen changes in Turin with the planning and development for the Olympics.

The first line of a long-talked-about subway was completed for the games, she said. Centuries-old buildings were cleaned, wrought iron balconies repainted and trams and busses rehabilitated.

"A lot of people in Turin complained that for two years streets were closed," she said. "They said it was going to ruin Turin, but they're not talking that way now. It's more tourist friendly now. And more famous obviously."

Mortara, who teaches a computer catch-up course at Wooster High School, plans to return to Turin and Paris this summer. She's working on a book about her many visits to Paris.